Where have you been?

Hello World.  It's been a while since I've been on this side of cyberspace…  And boy, have I missed it.  There really is just nothing like finding a quiet, peaceful place to sit down and write, and just let your mind go.  I’ve found lately that my anxiety and stress has piled on more when I didn’t just put all my words and thoughts on paper.  Keeping it all inside has just continued to drag me down.  It’s nice to have my own little spot to go to and just write and write and write.

Anyways, I’ve gotten to a point where I somewhat feel stuck in my life.  I feel as if the things I am doing every day are getting me nowhere and are not contributing to my true passions in life.  My passions such as painting, photography, laughing, and spending time in God’s word are just not being satisfied.  This is simply my own fault.  I’ve gotten too lazy.  I’m constantly complaining to myself that there just isn’t enough time in the day to get anything done.  Well I don’t know if any of you ever feel this way, but I got pretty tired of hearing myself complain; especially about not being able to do the things that make me happiest.  I am so blessed to even be able to have the opportunity to have discovered these passions in my life when there are people who aren’t capable of painting, they can’t enjoy the beauty of photography, they have no way to experience true laughter, and they don’t have access to God’s word and His teachings.  By this, I am more motivated to MAKE TIME to pursue my passions in life.  To continue to be a part of the joyful youth of my world while I still can.  Why complain about something when there is no problem to begin with?  I have all the access I need and more to get involved with these activities, yet I haven’t made time for them simply because of my selfishness, bitterness and laziness.  For that reason, I WILL be making time for my blogging, my photography, my painting, my quiet time with God, and putting laughter and joy back into my life!

Last summer I bought a book called “Add more ~ing To Your Life” by Gabrielle Bernstein.  Although at the time I just bought it because of that small hippy side in me and it really seemed like a book I would enjoy, I now see that it may catch my interest in more ways than I knew.

  I just finished reading “The Help” (yes I’m a little further behind than everyone else who read it. And it was a GREAT BOOK!) And I was ready to start on another great book! (I love reading, by the way!)  I dug to the back of my bookshelf to what books I had hiding back there and I found “Add more ~ing To Your Life” (which of course I had yet to crack open).  I skimmed through the summary on the back and instantly thought back to these past few weeks of all I had been feeling.  I haven’t been entirely happy with myself, or just what I have been doing with my free time in general (which is a bunch of nothing).  On the tag line under the title of the book, it says ‘A HIP GUIDE TO HAPPINESS’.  Ummm.. PERFECT!  This is just what I need right now.  So I dove into the introduction and the first chapter last night.  It’s basically the idea of a 30 day challenge of adding more ~ing to your life.  This could be interesting.  In the introduction the overview states this:

The ~ing Equation is a thirty-day adventurous repetition of physical activity, deliberate positive affirmations and creative visualization.  The ~ing Equation will bulldoze negative thought patterns and create positive change so you can move forward and live an awesome life.  The beauty of the ~ing Equation is that it can be applied to an infinite number of areas in life to effect positive change. The twelve chapters in this book cover specific issues that affect our generation; issues such as feeling stuck, being involved in difficult relationships, harboring fear of failure or success, and addiction.  (Add more ~ing To Your Life)

Sounds pretty awesome to me.  So I decided I am going to read into this book and see what these steps are that Gabrielle Bernstein is suggesting.  Although I am quite excited about this hippy lady and her book, I am a little hesitant to become too consumed in the concept of her writings.  I am a firm believer of my faith in Jesus Christ and truly believe that God is my guide to happiness.  I don’t want the possible self-seeking activities in this book overcome the time and dedication I put forth toward studying the word of God.  God is my number one in my guide to happiness, so I simply hope to just combine some of the suggestions from this book to my beliefs already.  I don’t mean to suggest that this book revolves around some other higher power like Buddha or any other believed prophets like that.  This book is more about physical activities and spending time in meditation to gain positive thinking and continue that way of thinking throughout the rest of your life.  So I am excited to combine prayer and time with God with the meditation and other activities I love in my life to create a balance which allows me to maintain true happiness.  Here goes and open heart and open mind, hoping for the best.